Air Moldova

Business class Moscow to Chisinau. I was the only business class passenger. Good condition A320. Flight was on time FA was smart pretty smiling and hospitable. Cabin service was fine - a full breakfast served and service was attentive. I was pleasantly surprised.

OTP-KIV return on new Embraer 190. The flight was quick and the little snack was more than ok. Flight Attendants were only interested in some passengers and didn't really care at all for the others. I felt sort of unsafe as no particular attention was brought to passengers calling on cellphone or using electronic devices during take off and landing! My return trip was with the small Embraer 120 for KIV-OTP flight. This very old little plane of 30 seats only was comfy and I felt safe. The single cabin crew who was working was smiling kind and hospitality was great. We left and arrived on time.

OTP-KIV Embraer 120 Economy Class. The airplane is old and uncomfortable. Whilst waiting in Bucharest had to approach the information desk and ask for explanations with regard to the late opening of the check-in counter. In fact with 20 minutes before scheduled departure the check-in hadn't opened. No announcements or apologies from the airline staff. Tarom-operated flights on this route are a better alternative. The only good thing about this flight was the responsive attitude of the FA on board. Otherwise Air Moldova needs to get its grip together if they want to retain customers.

Flew Air Moldova on the Chisinau - London Stansted route. Check-in efficient and quick boarding. The Airbus 320 was in good condition and crew very welcoming. Once on-board offered a cold meal and one round of drinks. Air Moldova makes a technical stop in Paris to drop-off and pick-up passengers on this route. Given that total flight time to London including the stop in Paris is over 5 hours I think it does make sense to serve a hot meal and at least another round of drinks. I guess this was the only disappointment with Air Moldova.

Route FRA-KIV-FRA. First flight was an unmarked MD operated by SkyWings. Service and food were average at best. Return flight turned into quite a nightmare mostly for passengers who had a connection flight from Frankfurt to another city. The flight was scheduled at 0805 first postponed to 0900 then to 1000 and finally to 1230. In the end our flight took off at 1340 nearly eight hours late. There was hardly a word of excuse except a roll and a bottle of water handed to each passenger in the departure area.

FRA-KIV-FRA. This route is now run by an old MD-82 leased from Sky Wings (Greece). This plane has no markings and my seat had no tray table. Parking is at the furthest stand from the terminal so you will have a very long ride to/from Terminal 2. FRA-KIV meal was OK as was the service. KIV-FRA breakfast was great. No in-flight entertainment either way.

I'd give it a solid average rating. It seems you can never get a uniform service though; sometimes you can buy a bottle of wine other times you are told wine is not sold or available or wine is served with the meal and sometimes there is none. The flight attendants are perfunctorily friendly something expected from a former communist mentality (customer service-wise). Air Moldova offers the cheapest airfare I have found and the only direct flight from Frankfurt.

KIV-FRA-KIV. The airline currently uses A320-200 former Ansett Australia airplanes. Service was average. Food pretty simple and included sliced ham and cheese a bun and salad tea or coffee and dessert. Service average but the good part is the Moldovan red wine they serve on board! Flight attendants friendly but disappeared soon after the empty food trays were collected. Air Moldova is the only non-stop option between Chisinau and Frankurt and in terms of price much cheaper compared to other Air Moldova routes.

I used to regularly fly Air Moldova and could see a huge improvement for the last years. The service on flights to Western Europe was always rather very good. Even if in the beginning nothing was different from a regular Aeroflot plane commodities (Tupolev 134) the air hostesses were very attentive and tried their best (speaking English as well as Russian and Romanian). Recently they got Airbus 320 and the flight is a real pleasure. Air Moldova has added lately their entertainment TV program in flight. That is also a change to the horrible comedy Russian shows they used to air before.